End-gate fastener



(No Model.)

- .W. W. HENDRICKS.

p END GATE-FASTENER.

No. 601,320, Patented Mar. 29, 1898.

TATES WILLIAM W. HENDRICKS, OF BOLIVAR, MISSOURI.

END-GATE FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 601,320, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed. fieptember 80, 1897. Serial No. 653,615. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LWILLIAM W. HENDRICKS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Bolivar, in the county of Polk and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful End- Gate Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in end-gate fasteners.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of end-gate fasteners and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eflicient device designed to dispense with threads and nuts, adapted to be quickly operated to lock and release an end-gate, and capable of firmly holding the sides of a wagonbody or top-box against outward movement.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an end-gate fastener constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to a wagon-body. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the ratchet-lever.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 and 2 designate rods,disposed transversely of a wagon-body 3, at the outer face of the end-gate 4 and provided at their outer ends with substantially L-shaped arms 5, forming hooks and engaging the sides of the wagonbody. The L-shaped arms engage recesses arranged on the exterior of the sides of the wagon-body and terminating at their inner ends in sockets. The sides 6 of the wagon-body are provided at their inner faces with cleats 7 and 8 and are recessed at their outer faces and rear edges at 9 to receive the hook portions of the rods, and the outer cleats 8 are correspondingly recessed to form a continuation of the rear portion of each recess 9. The cleats 7 and 8, which are secured to the inner faces of the sides of the wagon-body, are arranged in pairs and receive the endsof the end-gate betweenthem.

The inner ends of the rods 1 and 2 are provided with eyes 10 and 11, which are linked into perforations of a lever 12, and the latter is substantially L-shaped, being provided at one end with an arm 13, disposed substantially at right angles to it and provided at its ends with perforations 14 and 15 to recive the eyes of the rods 1 and 2. The perforation 14 is formed in a projecting ear, which arranges one of the rods close to the lever. The main or body portion of the lever is provided at one end with a handle, and it has a series of shouldered teeth 16 at its lower edge, which are adapted to be engaged by alink l7, arranged on the body portion of the lever and the rod 1, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The projecting ear,which has the perforation 14, is adapted to offset the rod 1 from the body portion of the lever, so as to enable the parts to be operated to their greatest extent without coming in contact, and by bringing the toothed arm or body portion of nected by the short arm of the lever, and when the latter is swung upward the sides of the wagon body are drawn tightly against the ends of the end-gate and are prevented from spreading. When the parts are looked, as shown in Fig. 1, the body portion of the lever is disposed at an angle to the rod 1, which is arranged at a slight inclination, and by forcing the link outward on the rod and the lever the end-gate may be fastened as tightly as desired. The link 17, which receives the rod 1 and the lever 12, remains permanently on those parts and simply has to be moved to the inner end of the rod 1 when it is desired to release the end-gate. By this construction the parts are locked and unlocked by simply sliding the link longitudinally of the lever and the rod without disengaging it from the former.

The invention has the following advantages The end-gate fastener, while being simple and inexpensive in construction, is strong and durable, and is adapted to be rapidly operated for fastening and releasing the end-gate. The hooked ends of the rods cannot become accidentally disengaged from the sides of the wagon-body when the end-gate fastener is under tension, and the device dispenses with the threads and nuts employed on the ordinary form of end-gate rod. It is applicable to top boxes as well as to wagon-beds, and it may be used to advantage where a clamp is necessary, such as shipping-cases, to lock the lid or cover thereon, bedsteads, to prevent the slats from falling out, and the like.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is A device of the class described comprising two oppositely-disposed transverse rods designed to be connected at their outer ends with the sides of a wagon-body, a substantially L- shaped lever connected at the outer end of its short arm with one of the rods and provided at its angle with a projecting ear connected with the other rod and arranging the point of attachment of such rod adjacent to the longer arm of the L-shaped lever, the latter being provided at the lower edge of its longer arm with teeth, and a link receiving the adjacent rod and permanently mounted on the toothed arm of the lever and arranged to be moved inward toward the shorter arm in unlocking an end-gate, whereby the locking and unlocking operation is effected without removing the link from the lever or the rod, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM W. HENDRICKS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR GRIFFIN, J. L. RAoKLEY. 

